Norway, Spain, Ireland to Recognize Palestinian Statehood

The declaration prompted Israel to recall its ambassadors to the trio of European countries.

Black smoke rises from the Jenin Palestinian refugee camp during clashes with the Israeli military in the Israeli-controlled West Bank on Nov. 9, 2023. Zain Jaafar/AFP via Getty Images

Norway, Spain, and Ireland announced on May 22 that they would formally recognize a Palestinian state, prompting Israel to immediately recall its ambassadors to the three nations.

The formal recognition will take place on May 28, according to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store.

“In the midst of a war, with tens of thousands killed and injured, we must keep alive the only alternative that offers a political solution for Israelis and Palestinians alike: Two states, living side by side, in peace and security,” Mr. Store said in a statement.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said in a speech to the Congress of Deputies that his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, does not have “a peace project for Palestine,” and that the ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza is undermining the possibility of a two-state solution.

“Fighting Hamas is legitimate after October 7, but Netanyahu generates so much resentment. ... The offensive will only increase hatred, worsening the security prospects for Israel and the entire region,” he said.

“The only solution is the existence of two states, one Israeli and the other Palestinian, with mutual security guarantees,” Mr. Sánchez said, arguing that giving recognition to a Palestinian state is necessary to “empower the Palestinian National Authority against Hamas, a terrorist group that must disappear.”

Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said he expected other countries to follow suit in recognizing a Palestinian state.

“Ireland’s dream is that the Israeli and Palestinian children of May 28th 2024 will grow up to be neighbors at peace,” he said in a statement. “We want to thank and are honored to recognize Palestine at the same time as our friends in Spain and Norway. We are hopeful others will do the same in the next wave.”

The Irish government also called for the unconditional release of hostages held by Hamas and “full, safe, and unhindered” humanitarian access to Gaza.

Israel Threatens ‘Severe Consequences’

In protest of the declarations, Israel said on May 22 that it would recall its ambassadors to Norway, Ireland, and Spain.

“I’m sending a clear and unequivocal message to Ireland and Norway: Israel will not remain silent in the face of those undermining its sovereignty and endangering its security,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote in a post on social media platform X before Spain’s announcement came out.

“This distorted step by these countries is an injustice to the memory of the victims of [the Oct. 7 attack], a blow to efforts to return the 128 hostages, and a boost to Hamas and Iran’s jihadists, which undermines the chance for peace and questions Israel’s right to self-defense.”

He also warned other countries not to follow suit.

“Israel will not remain silent—there will be further severe consequences,” he said. “If Spain follows through on its intention to recognize a Palestinian state, a similar step will be taken against it.

“The Irish-Norwegian folly does not deter us; we are determined to achieve our goals: restoring security to our citizens, dismantling Hamas, and bringing the hostages home. There are no more just causes than these.”

In October 2014, Sweden became the first member of the European Union to recognize a Palestinian state. Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia followed in the ensuing decade.

Rethinking Oslo Approach

Norway, which led the May 22 declarations, also played an important role in the Israeli–Palestinian peace talks at the beginning of the 1990s.

Those peace talks, guided by what Mr. Store described as a strategy in which recognition of Palestinian statehood would follow a peace agreement, eventually led to the Oslo Accords, a set of agreements that have since slowly broken down.

The Oslo Accords created the Palestinian National Authority and granted it control over pieces of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian government body went on to lose control of Gaza to Hamas after fighting in 2007 and now controls only about 40 percent of the West Bank. The rest of the West Bank is in Israeli hands.

In Israel, the Oslo Accords’ momentum was largely derailed after its key signatory, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, was branded a traitor and assassinated in 1995. His successor, then-acting Prime Minister Shimon Peres, was defeated in the following year’s election and replaced by Mr. Netanyahu, who has shown little interest in his predecessors’ vision of Palestinian statehood beside Israel.

Acknowledging the failure of the Oslo approach, Mr. Store argued that Norway and other European countries must “think differently and act accordingly” as they push for a two-state solution to the conflict.

“We can no longer wait for the conflict to be resolved before we recognize the state of Palestine,” he said.